He had a magnet on his refrigerator that said, “He who dies with the most guitars wins.”

Foley, the husband of Omaha philanthropist Susie Buffett and a longtime fixture on the local Omaha music scene, died Friday of lung cancer. He was 66.

“He was like a true musician who wanted to constantly learn and get better,” says Gary Foster, who played with Foley for decades in a popular local band, The Firm. “And John was one of the greatest guys in the world. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like John.”

Guitars were Foley’s first love.

The Omaha native first picked up the instrument in his youth. In his young adult years, before attending computer school, he worked at a music store selling guitars and sound systems and played in a local country band.

In 1980, he was asked to serve as soundman for The Firm, an Omaha band composed largely of local lawyers. And two years later, when the band’s guitarist quit, Foley stepped in.

“We had a problem with him when he first joined: He was way too country and we were a garage new wave band, and he played too damn loud,” Foster said. “But he learned it and got it done. He has given the band a kind of super charge.

The laid-back and modest Foley enjoyed the whole process; he was part of a creative group, having fun and making music. And he became a guitar virtuoso.

One of the band’s biggest fans was Susie Buffett, the daughter of Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett. She eventually entered into a long-term relationship with the band’s guitarist. Foley and Buffett married in 2017.

When The Firm stopped playing regularly, Foley appeared as a blues guitarist with ‘Da Crabby Blues Band’. He also explored other types of music and became particularly interested in gypsy jazz, a jazz style with complicated guitar techniques.

He also hosted after-dinner jam sessions at his house, with friends on other instruments and Susie Buffett singing and playing the tambourine.

Indeed, Foley died with many guitars, as he had always tried to add to his impressive collection, Foster said. He also repaired guitars for other musicians in a basement workshop. He would never accept money for it, only a bottle of good whiskey.

With his technical knowledge and love for tinkering, he not only repaired guitars. Cars. Electronics. Computers. You name it.

“If I had something, he’d say, ‘Transfer it,’” says Bill Eustice, a bassist and singer for “The Firm.” “It was amazing how bright he was. And he was always there when things went wrong.”

Foley is survived by his wife Susie and stepchildren Emily Greenberg and Michael (Joe) Greenberg of Omaha. He is also survived by his sister Mary McKnight of Meridian, Idaho and brother Arthur “Sam” Foley of Council Bluffs.